10 a Sponge? if 5 



vantages over his more aristocratic neighbor, 

 man. He breathes but he has no lungs, and 

 therefore cannot have pneumonia. He di- 

 gests his food, but he has no stomach, and 

 therefore never has dyspepsia, gastritis, or any 

 of the many ailments that belong to that much 

 abused organ. He has no intestines, and 

 therefore cannot have appendicitis or Asiatic 

 cholera or any of the long train of diseases in- 

 cident to those complicated organs. He has 

 no nervous system oh, happy sponge! there- 

 fore he cannot have nervous prostration, hys- 

 teria, or epilepsy. He has no use for doctors, 

 and therefore has no unpleasant discussions 

 with his neighbors about the relative merits of 

 the different schools of medicine. If he has 

 any predilections in the way of " pathies " we 

 should say that he is a hydropath. While he 

 is a great drinker, he is not at all convivial 

 he drinks only water, and takes that in soli- 

 tary silence. He sows all his wild oats 

 when he is very young, while he has the 

 freedom to roam at will. He soon tires of 

 this, however, for he selects the rock that is 

 to be the foundation of his future home and 

 there settles down for life, " wrapt in the soli- 

 tude of his own originality." He is not 

 troubled with wars or rumors of wars. His 

 eyes are never startled or his nerves shaken 

 by the scare headlines of yellow journalism. 

 The one sensation of his life, if sensation he 



